The flood-swollen Pearl River swept away a trailer in Marion County Sunday and nearly claimed a home.
The damage happened in Riverview Estates off Mississippi 43 South, about 13 miles south of Columbia.
“The Pearl is falling now, but it completely washed the trailer away about 7:30 a.m. Sunday and by 4 p.m. it had floated down the river,” Marion County Emergency Management Director Aaron Greer said. “The people from the trailer were actually there, but they are safe. The people in the house were renters. Someone was in both structures.”
Heavy rains dumped as much as a foot of water on the area on Dec. 27 and Dec. 28, and the Pearl continued to rise in the days that followed.
Flood stage is 17 feet, and the river crested last week at 20.28 feet. Record flood stage at Columbia for the Pearl River is 27.2 feet. As of Tuesday, the Pearl was at 18 feet and falling. It’s expected to go below 13 feet by Saturday, according to National Weather Service forecasts.
The emergency management office has been busy compiling lists of damaged properties and roadways. Greer said no other homes were in danger, though eight houses were damaged countywide.
“Most of them were in the Pine Burr area,” he said. “The water has pretty well gone down now.”
Most of the other homes affected were along the Lower Little River on Pine Burr Road and Mississippi 13 South. Five of the homes suffered “major” damage. One home on High School Avenue in Columbia was “affected” by flood waters. Five businesses, all on the east side of Main Street in Columbia, also had flood waters during the “We also had a lot of roads damaged,” Greer said. “Supervisors are busy checking culverts and washouts. In all, 39 roads were affected. Several remain closed.”
Areas around Pine Burr including Jeff Town Road, Old Mississippi 13 South and Pine Burr Road were heavily affected, and roads from Expose to Foxworth, Sandy Hook and Kokomo were affected.
Pictured Above: A home in Riverview Estates off Mississippi 43 South dangles over the Pearl River Monday after high waters caused the land underneath it to erode. A trailer nearby was swept into the flooded river on Sunday. The Pearl crested at 3 feet above flood stage. | Photo by Mark Rogers
